Blood Pressure and Stroke Risk Among Diabetic Patients

Context: Blood pressure (BP) control can reduce the risk of stroke among diabetic patients; however, it is not known whether the lowest risk of stroke is among diabetic patients with the lowest BP level. Objective: Our objective was to investigate the race-specific association of different levels of BP with stroke risk among diabetic patients in the Louisiana State University Hospital-based longitudinal study. Design, Setting, and Participants: We prospectively investigated the race-specific association of different levels of BP at baseline and during an average of 6.7 years of follow-up with incident stroke risk among 17 536 African American and 12 618 white diabetic patients within the Louisiana State University Hospital System. Main Outcome Measure: We evaluated incident stroke until May 31, 2012. Results: During follow-up, 2949 incident cases of stroke were identified. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios of stroke associated with different levels of systolic/diastolic BP at baseline (